Hey, Nice ‘S’: Meet Every Actress Who Has Played Supergirl
In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, Hollywood has taken notice, with much more of an emphasis not only on female filmmakers but female characters —Supergirl, we’re talking to you — as well. In the world of superheroes, Marvel has certainly made great strides with the likes of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow in various Avengers films, Zoe Saldana as Gamorra in Guardians of the Galaxy, Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne, aka Wasp, in Ant-Man and the Wasp; and next year’s Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson in the title role. And over at DC, there has been Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, the sequel to which is filming now, and, of course, Supergirl, who will be starring in a new movie.
Supergirl was created in 1959 by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino. Journalist Louis Black, who knew Otto well, comments to us, “One would be hard-pressed to argue that Otto was a feminist, but that having more to do with the times than his outlook. He was proud of creating her. He clearly knew what he was doing and was conscious of the importance of women superheroes.”
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(Photo Credit: DC Comics)
While many of these superhero adventures tend to go in a dark direction, Supergirl as both a character and in the current Melissa Benoist CW TV series, provides a more hopeful balance. In fact, the TV show has been created and developed as a spiritual cousin to Richard Donner’s 1978 classic, Superman: The Movie, which introduced Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel.
“Christopher Reeve let us see the everyman in Superman, and as a result we really related to him,” Supergirl executive producer Ali Adler pointed out at Comic-Con when the show launched. “Melissa brings that as well. She’s just so thrilling to watch. You put yourself in her position, you are her or you want to be her. As a result, we’re embracing the positivity of that world. We’re just trying to get out there this incredible personality that she has. It’s being vulnerable when you’re invincible. That was the challenge.”
And that was what drew Melissa, who had previously starred in the TV series Glee and to the triple role of Kara Zor-El/Supergirl/Kara Danvers (her Earth identity). “What I’ve found in playing her,” she explained at San Diego Comic-Con last year, “is that there’s this open, loving kind of attitude toward life in her. Just true, pure goodness. And she has the same kind of hope that Superman has. That is one of the keywords that came to mind when we were first shooting the pilot; I had to feel, almost internally, hopeful. And she doesn’t quit, so I definitely think she is a beacon of hope. It runs in the family.”
And it runs through the many interpretations of Supergirl on film, in animation, and in video games, as evident in the guide that follows.
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Helen Slater (Supergirl, 1984)
As the Christopher Reeve Superman film series was winding down, the world got their introduction to the Girl of Steel in the form of this film that starred Helen in the title role. She's great, but the film is so unbelievably campy thanks to Faye Dunaway's performance as the villain. Years later, Helen would appear on both the Smallville and Supergirl TV series.
In an interview with Comic Book Resources the actress recalled, "When I got the part of Supergirl, I was 18 years old. I had told my mom I didn’t want to go to college right away, and so I took a year off. In a million years, I never imagined I would audition for a film like this and get the lead. It was just not even on my horizon… I auditioned with a homemade cape and skirt. I don’t think anybody else made a homemade costume, so I think that might have impressed them…but I can’t say for sure.”
Speaking to Den of Geek, Helen also noted that she spent a bit of time with actor Christopher Reeve, who, of course, was playing Superman at the same time she was getting ready to film Supergirl. "We were both at Pinewood Studios at England. I don't know if he was just getting ready to work on Superman III, I can't quite remember the timelines, but he was there," she said. "I can't tell you specifically he said this, he said that. But the feeling was so warm and kind, and then we became friends when we got back to New York. I got to spend time with him, which was super-nice, no pun intended. But the feeling was very kind of brotherly, protective. I was only 18 and he was older. He may have been in his 30s by then."
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Getty Images; Warner Bros
Nicholle Tom (Superman: The Animated Series, 1996; New Batman Adventures, 1997; Justice League Unlimited, 2004)
Prior to voicing the character, Nicholle starred as Maggie Sheffield in the beloved sitcom, The Nanny, and she's gone on to gueststar on a number of series, including Gotham and Masters of Sex. She has the distinction of being the first actress to voice the Supergirl character. Interestingly, her version of Supergirl was different than others that had come before it.
Explains kryptonsite.com, "The creators of the animated series wanted to keep the emphasis on Superman being the last of his kind. As such, in this version, Supergirl was not actually from Krypton! Instead, Kara In-Ze (not Kara Zor-El) was from Krypton’s 'sister planet,' Argo, named after the floating city from the original comics. Though the two were not actually biologically related, while on Earth Kara posed as Clark Kent’s cousin. In a special feature on the Superman: The Animated Series Volume 3 DVD set, series writer/producer Bruce Timm revealed that it was planned to have Kara eventually develop some powers that were different from Superman’s, since they were from different planets. This never happened, simply because they never got around to it. Though Superman was more powerful than Supergirl, the two had all the same powers."
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Adrianne Palicki (Smallville, Season 3)
OK, so she said she was Supergirl (or actually Kara Zor-El), and thought she was Supergirl, and introduced herself to Clark Kent (Tom Welling) as Supergirl, but in the end it turned out that she was a manipulation sent by his then douche of a Kryptonian father, Jor-El (voiced by Terence Stamp). For Adrianne (currently among the cast of Seth MacFarlane's The Orville), it was certainly close enough.
"I think the character of Kara in Smallville was a little different from the one in the comic, because her motive is different," Adrianne exclusively told Closer. "She’s not evil by any means whatsoever, but she does come to Clark for a specific reason. She doesn’t really have a sense of right or wrong; the morality isn’t there. [Director/co-executive producer] Greg Beeman used an analogy that kind of helped me through the process, which is that Kara’s an angel who comes to Jesus, who is Clark, and is telling him what he’s going to be, with Jor-El being God. So throughout the entire thing she’s the messenger, sent to help Clark see what he needs to see, because he doesn’t know the full extent of his powers yet."
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Getty Images; Warner Bros
Tara Strong (Justice League Heroes, 2006)
Brainiac and his villain cronies have a master plan to conquer the world and eliminate the Justice League forever. Using the superpowers and skills of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and DC Comics superheroes, players must join the Justice League to ultimately save humanity from Brainiac and the dark forces that lurk in the universe.
In the voice world, Tara Strong has become much more identified with the character of Batgirl, but she provided the voice of the Girl of Steel in this 2006 video game.
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Laura Vandervoort (Smallville Seasons 7 and 10)
By the time Smallville had gotten to its seventh season, it was really mining the Superman mythology despite the fact that Tom Welling's Clark Kent hadn't become the Man of Steel yet. By that year, it was time to bring in the real Supergirl/Kara, and she appeared in the form of recurring actress Laura Vandervoort.
"It was really my first opportunity to not only be on American television, but play an iconic superhero," Laura, who would later star as a werewolf in the series Bitten, explained to us. "That helped with my confidence, for sure, but it was terrifying. That was the cast that I was joining seven years in and was trying to fit in. New kid in school. She pre-existed before me in the mythology. And they [the producers] definitely had a way that they wanted me to play her, so I would go home as myself and not get lost in the role, because I just completely played a character outside of myself
"Kara was a great character," she continued. "I know there's a comic book theme behind who she is and who she's supposed to be, but I kind of made her my own. They had written her as this rebellious teenager and she didn't care about people, but we slowly developed her into a likable, almost-human being who had faults of her own."
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Summer Glau (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, 2010)
Batman discovers a mysterious teenaged girl with super-human powers and a connection to Superman. When the girl comes to the attention of Darkseid, the evil overlord of Apokolips, events take a decidedly dangerous turn. Needless to say, that "mysterious teenaged girl" is Supergirl.
"Kara was a really comfortable fit for me, because she's sort of a girl coming into her own," said Summer Glau, best known for starring in Joss Whedon's sci-fi western Firefly. "A girl becoming a woman and finding out who she is, and so I felt like there were moments when it reminded me of [Firefly's] River, because she is so powerful, but also young and naïve and a little bit lost. She has this underlying strength that comes from out of nowhere.
"I think everything about being Supergirl is special," she added. "When I saw the graphics for her, I thought, 'I don't think I'm ever gonna look that good again,' so I was going to soak it up and enjoy it. I feel like animated characters always have longer calves than they have thighs. They have these tiny little thighs and these big, wonderful calves and then these big hips, and this tiny little waist. I feel like it'd be hard to keep your balance, but it looks good. Plus I loved this script, and I loved the character. Who wouldn't love to be Supergirl?"
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YouTube; Warner Bros
Adriene Mischler (DC Universe Online, 2011)
DC Universe Online is a Free-to-Play, massive multiplayer online action game for the PC, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 systems. "Become one of a new breed of powerful Heroes and Villains and wield incredible abilities as you go to war with legendary characters such as Batman, Superman, Lex Luthor, and The Joker," proclaims the official description. Adriene actually voices a number of characters in the game besides Supergirl, including Lois Lane, Cheetah, Raven, Starfire, and Ursa. Interestingly, acting — voice or otherwise — is only something of a side gig for her. Adriene's real career is in yoga, for which she's a fitness instructor well known for her website Yoga With Adriene. Additionally, she is the co-founder of the online library of yoga-related material, Find What Feels Good.
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Getty Images; Warner Bros
Nicole Sullivan (Super Best Friends Forever, 2012)
Animated shorts focused on Supergirl (Nicole), Batgirl (Tara Strong), and Wonder Woman (Grey DeLisle). Nicole Sullivan has had numerous film, guest starring, and recurring TV roles. Of this take on the Girl of Steel, writer Lauren Faust told MTV, "I’m taking the idea that Kara is from Krypton, she has all of the same powers that Superman has, but she gets none of the attention. It’s 'all Superman, all the time,' and nobody notices her. If I were 15 or 16, that would’ve made me really mad. [Laughs] So, I’m taking my version of Supergirl and along with her power and strength, I’m making her a little bit of a hothead with something to prove."
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Molly C. Quinn (Superman Unbound, 2013)
Superman (Matt Bomer) battles Brainiac (John Noble) to save the Krypton city of Kandor, which is miniaturized and held aboard Brainiac's ship, as Supergirl (Molly C. Quinn) tries to keep Earth safe while coping with nightmares of what Brainiac had done to her homeworld and her parents.
"The relationship between Superman and Supergirl is very brother-and-sister or very bickering cousins," Molly C. Quinn, who played Alexis on Castle, told us. "But at the same time, they love each other. I think they both learn from each other. He’s having to catch her up on life on Earth, and what’s acceptable there, and at the same time she’s always having to remind him where he came from. So she grounds him. She’s all about teaching him, 'You may know all about your new planet, and you may have these special powers now. But you need to remember who you were and that our planet is no longer there.' She is the reality check for Superman.
"It’s a big honor to play Supergirl and, to me, she really represents all teen girls," Molly enthused. "The strongest force of change in the world is a girl, so that’s what I just kept saying to myself [while recording]. She has the ability, and she will impact the world. She knows that she has that confidence and that exuberance and that life inside her that she wants to share and she wants to teach. There were challenges in her attitude that she’s a mature woman stuck in a teenager’s body, so she’s having to go through all this stuff — puberty, being treated like a kid, not being given the respect of an adult. It’s all very conflicting inside her. She’s special, and she knows she’s special, so for her having to kind of blend in is always a struggle. She has these new powers, and she wants to go around and save people — and to make sure that what happened to her and her planet doesn’t happen to them. I like that human side of her. She’s very tough, but underneath she’s really fighting this terror that she feels — because she understands the consequences."
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Kari Wahlgren (Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, 2014)
Batman joins forces with the superheroes of the DC Comics Universe and travels into space to collect the Green Lantern rings and stop Brainiac from shrinking worlds. In addition to Supergirl, Kari voices Black Canary, Hawkgirl, Indigo-1, Wonder Girl, and Zatanna. For actress Kari Wahlgren, this was only one of an entire career (beginning in 2001) of voice work. In speaking to sweetyhigh.com, she noted of voice acting, "The toughest thing is that there is a technical side and a creative side, and you really need to get comfortable with both to be successful. Creatively, you need to be a great actor — not just good, but great. In voiceover, they often don't hire three people for three roles. They hire one actor to play three roles, so the more versatile and creative you are, the more chances you have to work. But there's also the technical side. You need to learn how to work a microphone and record in a studio. I always encourage aspiring voice actors to get some experience in front of a mic so they can hear what they sound like and how the mic is picking up their voice. The most rewarding part of voiceover is that it's limitless. I play characters of different ages, ethnic backgrounds, and genders. I play so many characters that I would never get to play on camera."
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Anais Fairweather (DC Super Hero Girls, 2015)
At Super Hero High, iconic superheroes like Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Bumblebee, Poison Ivy, and Katana navigate all the twists and turns of high school. United by friendship, the concept is that the DC Super Hero Girls empower kids to shine with confidence and courage, especially while they combat awkward moments of growing up. Anais Fairweather has voiced a number of characters over the years. In a promotional interview for the series, she explained, "The voiceover community is such a strong and small one, it's hard to kind of break in, so it was a process of auditioning for different projects and getitng my foot in the door. And then Supergirl came along and it was just a perfect marriage. She crash lands on Earth and she's new to the game, and so am I. Warner Bros really nailed it.
"Superman and Batman were kind of my superhero connection growing up," she added. "So it's wonderful to finally have a female connection to this world. Growing up, these girls are learning about themselves. They're a little timid. They're scared of who they are, especially Supergirl. She's scared of her powers; she doesn't know how to use them."
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Getty Images; Warner Bros
Camilla Luddington (Infinite Crisis, 2015)
No longer in operations, this was a free-to-play MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) game in which players take the roles of DC heroes or villains and battle each other online with their teams.
Camilla is best known for playing Dr. Jo Wilson on Grey's Anatomy
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Kevin Caliber
Malina Weissman (Supergirl TV series, 2015)
When the Melissa Benoist series Supergirl premiered in 2015, our first glance at the character of Kara Zor-El was her younger self, arriving on Earth and being rescued by her cousin, Superman (Kevin Caliber, only seen in silhouette in the episode, but clearly the guy in blue and red in the photo above). Playing her is model/actress Malina Weissman, who had previously played the young April O'Neil in 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (her film debut), and followed with the films Thirsty and Nine Lives. Last year she joined the cast of Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events in the role of Violet Baudelaire.
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Melissa Benoist (Supergirl TV Series, 2015-)
Without doubt the most popular version of Supergirl ever, with Melissa starring in this CW series that looks at both the personal and superhero aspects of her life. The show, which is prepping its fourth season, enjoys annual crossovers with The Flash, Arrow, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which allow Melissa to interact with actors like Grant Gustin, Stephen Amell and Caity Lotz.
"The first time I put on the suit was like automatically this instant kind of chemical change," Melissa recalled while speaking to us last year. "It’s part of me, and I feel like a different person every time I put it on, you know? I feel like Kara in my everyday life. I feel like this awkward, weird girl and that goes away when I put the suit on. Yeah, it’s weird! Its funny what a leotard, a cape and tights will do."
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Joanne Spracklen (Justice League Action, 2016-)
Designed for a slightly younger audience than previous Justice League animated shows, this one continues the struggle of the various DC heroes (including Joanne Spracklen's Supergirl) as they battle the forces of evil. Joanne has appeared in a number of films and TV shows since 2007.
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YouTube; Warner Bros
Jessica Di Cicco (Lego DC Comics Superheroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, 2016)
When villainous super-computer Brainiac decides to add Earth to his collection of worlds, the members of the Justice League fight back. But when they're scattered through time by Brainiac's devious schemes, they'll have to reunite to save the world. Man, hope they can do it! Jessica Di Cicco has been providing voice acting in various productions since 1999.
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Laura Bailey (Injustice 2, 2017)
Injustice 2 is a fighting video game that's the sequel to 2013's Injustice: Gods Among Us. The set-up is that the Joker has manipulated Superman into accidentally killing Lois Lane and their unborn child, resulting in the Man of Steel setting himself up as absolute ruler of Earth to stop all crime. Laura Bailey, who voices Supergirl, told Dualpixels.com of coming up with the voice, "I didn’t play around with it too much, because I feel like once I saw the dialogue and I knew what was happening with her in the story, it just kind of finds itself. But there is a lot of back and forth. I mean she’s young, so she has that kind of teen angst that I feel I don’t get to play with too much, because it’s not a comedic approach to anything you would do in animation. It’s very honest; she is trying to find herself in this world that is messed up. So, there is this innocence there, but also she is powerful.”
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Izabela Vidovic (Supergirl Episode, 2017)
Actress Izabela Vidovic, born in Chicago to Croatian parents, starred in the feature films Homefront (2013) and Wonder (2017), had recurring roles on About a Boy, The Fosters and iZombie, and also played the teenaged Kara Danvers in the season three episode of Supergirl, "Midvale." That episode, it should be pointed out, was so effective that it felt like it could have been the pilot for a spin-off series, and the resemblance between Izabela and Melissa Benoist was amazing. Unfortunately, no other episodes featured her again. Still, she had a great time, conveying to Monsters and Critics, "That was so much fun. I got to do all kinds of crazy things that Supergirl does; all the powers, flying and heat vision and super speed. I was very excited to play a role that is so empowering to women. It was lot of fun to delve into that and to watch Melissa and try and mimic some of the things that she does on the show as well."